Common misconceptions in the monster truck industry
This is a list of common misconceptions in the Monster Truck industry. Trucks * Bigfoot was not the first ever monster truck to be built. It is credited as such because it the truck that made monster trucks popular, and into a sport. In other words, it became the first famous monster truck, and possibly the first named one as well. However, there is evidence that other monster trucks did exist before Bigfoot's time. There is, however, evidence to suggest that it may have been King Kong. * On most trucks, the headlights are not real, they are just there for decor, similar to NASCAR cars. Certain trucks like Grave Digger are notable exceptions, though its headlights serve more as a stylistic decor, as tracks are always lit at night time anyway, thus why most monster trucks (and NASCAR cars) tend not to have them. * Most trucks do not have doors for the drivers to use to get in or out. The drivers instead climb up between the body and chassis. There are a few exceptions including Grave Digger and the original Over Bored. This comes from the fact that the early trucks all had regular doors since they were mostly just modified steet legal vehicles. * Despite their similar designs, both having the same name, and being based on the same character, the American FELD-owned Scooby-Doo truck is not in any way related to the Australian version of the same name, which preceded it by six years. They are different trucks running under different licenses. However, it is possible that the Australian version indirectly resulted in the creation of the truck for the United States audiences, possibly by FELD coming up with the idea from the Australian version. * Brutus was not always a 3D dog: it debuted as a pick-up body in 2001 before becoming a dog in 2004. On top of that, Brutus' original theme was the Roman soldier of the same name. * Avenger was not always a Bel-Air, it ran for the first three years as a Chevy S-10. * El Toro Loco is not a successor to Bulldozer: the two trucks actually co-existed for 8 years. El Toro Loco debuted in 2001 while Bulldozer continued running until its retirement in 2009. * Madusa is not a feminine themed truck, despite being driven by a woman for all but one shows. The term "Madusa" is short for "Made in the USA" (although the Breast Cancer Awareness variant stood for "Making a Difference in the USA"), so the truck as actually more of a patriotic theme. While a pink variant of this truck did exist in its later years, it originated as a red white and blue color scheme, which even ran during the truck's later years under Brianna Mahon, who drove the truck while Debra Miceli was out due to an injury. * The name Son-Uva Digger actually existed long before the actual truck's debut in 2011. It was one of the four trucks that was sold to FELD rather than created by it. * Jester is not a member of RKMT (Razin Kane Monster Trucks), a misconception that was popularized in 2015 and 2016, when the truck frequently toured with RKMT, both in and outside of Monster Jam, due to both being based out of Florida. Rather, Jester is 100% independently ran on the circuit, apart from FELD or any other team of Monster Trucks. * There is no reason to believe that Earth Shaker is plagiarism off of Dirt Crew. When FELD first announced Earth Shaker (at the time nicknamed "Dump Truck" pending its final name), massive backlash subsequently occurred due to several fans accusing the new truck of plagiarism off of Dirt Crew, as both were dump truck monster trucks. Furthermore, Dirt Crew was not only a non-FELD truck, but had never (and never has yet even today) competed in Monster Jam, which is another argument fans used to claim plagiarism. Aside from being dump trucks, however, there is actually little resemblance between the two trucks, as they both have different colors, different shades of whatever colors were the same, and even had different truck styles: while Earth Shaker is a more realistic dump truck, Dirt Crew is a unique, half dump truck and half Dodge Ram truck design. Furthermore, when the truck's official name was unveiled, it was also revealed that FELD had added dirt splatter designs to the sides of the truck, possibly in response to the controversy and to further differentiate it from Dirt Crew. Grave Digger * Grave Digger did not become popular for winning a majority of events, in fact, Dennis Anderson became nicknamed "One Shot Dennis" and "One Run Anderson" because of his frequent early eliminations in racing. This is what gave Dennis Anderson the idea to convince promoters to allow him to continue as an exhibition for fans as a result of being eliminated early, which is what eventually became known today as Freestyle. * Despite their high quality and quantity, Grave Digger bodies are not mass-produced by a manufacturer, each body is actually hand-painted. * Not every Grave Digger is a true monster truck. Grave Digger 6 is a street legal vehicle while Grave Digger 17 is a speed-dragster. * The truck that is frequently referred to as Grave Digger 5 is not the 5th Grave Digger truck to be built: it is actually the 9th (as it debuted after Grave Digger 8). The true 5th Grave Digger truck was an exhibition truck that, due to its heavy weight, was never used for competition. * The number of the latest Grave Digger (39 as of 2018) does in fact represent the true number of Grave Diggers built: the idea that it doesn't comes from the fact that Grave Digger 13 is non-existent, due to Anderson's superstition about unlucky 13. However, there are actually two Grave Digger 5's, as mentioned in the previous misconception. The second #5 truck makes up for the non-existent 13, reverting the number of trucks built back to normal. Bigfoot, on the other hand, actually does have one less than its highest number (21 as of 2018), as it to lacks a #13 truck for the same reason. Truck Technical Aspects * Monster Truck bodies are actually made out of thinner and lighter fiberglass, unlike normal street vehicles, whose bodies are based off Aluminum and Steel which is much heavier and thicker, though some trucks use carbon fiber for more strength. * In modern rear engined competition trucks, monster truck drivers are never seated on the left side of the truck, they are actually seated directly in the center. Older trucks, however, have had drivers sit on the driver's side, and ride trucks are even the same way, since they are built differently than competition trucks. The only trucks that still have a left side seat are the front engined Meents or Willman chassis's. * The interior cab light, usually a small red light inside the cab, very rarely if ever turns on immediately when the engine does. While the cab light is associated with the truck's transmission, it actually comes on several seconds, and in some cases even a couple of minutes, before the engine itself, likely as a warning to track crew members that the truck's engine is getting ready to start. * It is unlikely that mini monster trucks were invented specifically for children's use, despite the fact that they are today very popular with and driven by children, some as young as nine years old. Mini monster trucks were instead likely to have been invented as a cheaper alternative to a standard monster truck, as there is a history of adults driving mini monster trucks as well. Drivers Tom Meents did not start his monster truck career with FELD Motorsports. He actually spent the first six years of his career driving Monster Patrol, which is not, nor has it ever been, a FELD truck (although it has driven in Monster Jam events before), but was instead owned by Paul Shafer. Stunts * Larry Quick was not the first driver to do a backflip, it was actually Tom Meents, who first did the stunt in March 2009 at the Monster Jam World Finals 10. The misconception comes from the fact that Larry Quick was the first to attempt a backflip, but he did not actually land it first. * On the other hand, Tom Meents was actually not the first to land a Frontflip. Likewise, he was the first to attempt the frontflip, but during his first and so far only attempt at the East Rutherford show in 2015, he did not technically land the flip, as he landed on his back wheels: completing the flip would mean landing on the front wheels, not the back ones. Lee O'Donnell driving VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist was the first to land it at Monster Jam World Finals 18, which earned him the freestyle title. Crush Cars * Crush cars do not still contain the engines: they are removed from the cars before they are crushed. However, there have indeed been instances where cars with engines have been crushed: this has caused a small explosion from the car (likely a reason why engines are usually removed from the cars). This happened during a Myrtle Beach South Carolina show when King Kong accidentally crashed into two police cars, which were parked off to the side and were not part of the track. Many people believe they do still contain engines because this is their notion that Monster Jam decreased the use of crush cars over the years, because they believed that the engines were too valuable, but this is false, as removed engines can easily be preserved for future use or restoration. The confusion may also come from the fact that other items, such as the seats, steering wheel, and even seatbelts, are still intact in a crush car. * Monster truck promoters do not "buy" the cars they use for their shows. The majority of crush cars actually come from junkyards. This is evident as some cars have minor frame damage, or missing certain parts like bumpers etc, implying that they are junk cars. Cars are rented out from the junkyards, shipped to the stadium or arena, crushed, and then taken by to the junkyards, where they are likely scrapped for good and recycled to make new cars. * Crush cars are no longer as common as they used to be due to the decreasing amount of 1960's-1990's cars. Newer cars have more plastic as apposed to metal, meaning they crush faster and have a tendency to loose large pieces. Monster Jam stopped using loose cars due to pieces being thrown by trucks tires towards staff and fans. Monster Jam * Fan Judges are not a new idea to Monster Jam shows, in fact, the use of fan judges dates all the way back to Monster Jam World Finals 1. However, fans have agreed that the use of fan judges today are less practical than they use to be, as they argue that fan judges tend to be more biased today than they used to be. * Although the Monster Jam name has only existed since 1996, the actual organization has been around for 25 years as of 2017. It was known as "Motor Madness" before becoming Monster Jam. * Bigfoot did in fact compete in Monster Jam from 1997-1998, when the name began circulating, despite the widespread belief that Bigfoot has never been involved with Monster Jam. * Monster Jam discontinuing the use of free standing (loose) crush cars is not due to budget or tire quality, but rather safety concerns. Due to the nature of newer cars to break apart when hit and produce loose pieces that can be thrown by the trucks. World Finals * Monster Jam World Finals 1 was not the first World Finals to take place. An earlier World Finals, known today as Motor Madness World Finals "0", took place while the league was still running as "Motor Madness". Unlike the rest of the World Finals, World Finals 0 did not take place in Las Vegas, instead, it happened in St. Louis. * The Young Guns Shootout was not originally designed to determine a final spot in the main-line up for the Monster Jam World Finals. While the Young Guns began in 2012, it was actually not until 2013 when the idea came about to present the winner into the main-line up. Other * Driving a monster truck does not require a driver's license. This is likely due to the fact that monster trucks are not street legal vehicles, while licenses generally apply to verified street legal vehicles. Allen Pezo, known for driving Predator, began his monster truck career before he had a driver's license. * Avenger's 20th anniversary was not the reason for the fountain returning at Monster Jam World Finals 18: this belief is mostly due to Jim Koehler's yearly tradition of jumping into the fountain after freestyle, a tradition that started at Monster Jam World Finals 6. However, it was revived that year for the same reason as the bus: due to fan complaints regarding its absence in recent years. However, Avenger may be one of the reasons for fans wanting the fountain back, as Koehler used his own water feature during years without a fountain. * Fiberglass is actually quite reusable, despite being seemingly flimsy and lacking durability, which leads to the idea that fiberglass is practically disposable. In most cases, depending on fiberglass damage, whether from a crash or just an occurrence of the body falling apart (a common occurrence with trucks like Maximum Destruction and Grave Digger), fiberglass can actually be repaired and put back onto a truck. There have been instances where the damage was severe enough to require a new fiberglass body, but in many cases the body can be fixed and reused. It is, however, quite less reusable than carbon fiber, a much more durable, though also far more expensive, material used on certain trucks. * A truck's sponsorship expiring does not always mean that the truck will be immediately retired, despite there being instances where this has happened, such as with Advance Auto Parts Grinder, SoBe, and Team Suzuki. There have been instances where a truck's sponsorship has expired, but the truck has resumed performing. The most popular example is Blue Thunder, which for several years ran under a Ford sponsorship. However, the sponsorship has since been dropped, but the truck still performs today, albeit without any references to Ford on the truck. Another example is El Toro Loco, which briefly ran under an Advanced Auto Parts sponsorship from 2008-2009. * In the event that a truck's sponsorship expires and the truck is retired, merchandising off of that truck can still be sold in stores long after the sponsorship ends: the deal is that no new merchandise can be manufactured at that point. Merchandising off of Marvel trucks, for example, has been found in places such as grocery stores long after the sponsorship ended with FELD, but it is a case of yet to be sold merchandise and is discontinued. * Non-FELD trucks never sell merchandise at Monster Jam events, due to a policy from FELD Entertainment forbidding them to do so. Such merchandise is only found at non-FELD events. * France 2001 was the first ever overseas Monster Jam event and not France 2002. Category:Monster Truck Terms